Posts tagged ‘notebook’

There is no avoiding it, it is definitely autumn now. So in the spirit of embracing the season, I did my favourite wet weather thing. I went to hang out in a local bookshop. Shopping always cheers me up, but I have no desire to be changing in and out of rain-soaked clothes on a dull and dismal day. The local bookshop I visited is a Waterstones – we have no independent bookstores left in our area – but I like it just the same. The staff are lovely and chatty, and it’s a small intimate store in a historic building in a historic pedestrianised yard. With some smaller Waterstones’ stores disappearing, my mum had told me that she’d been worried when she’d visited recently and everything had been in disarray. However, it turns out the store had been doing so well they’d be granted a refurbishment!

On my wet weather day visit, the new layout was set, the shelves were up and almost all the stock was in place. And, to my delight, they had a new stationery section. (Woo!) To celebrate, I bought a Moleskine Passions Style Journal, an incredibly soft and lovely notebook (review to follow) and an Orla Kiely Acorn Cup A4 Notebook. The Orla Kiely Notebook is my new favourite thing. I was instantly gratified in my choice at the till, where the sales assistant told me she’d ordered one herself. It’s always good when the person looking at books and notebooks all day likes something you’ve purchased.

At £14.99, it’s not a bargain buy, but is cheaper than buying it direct from the Orla Kiely website (£3.01 cheaper, in case you were wondering). The cover is cardboard and light coloured, so it’s not one for being thrown about or carried in your bag unless you like the slightly worn look. I’ve barely moved mine about at all and I’ve already rolled one of the corners a little.

The paper inside is a really nice quality, features a tiny Orla Kiely logo at the bottom of each page and each sheet is perforated – great if you like to tear out, hole punch and file notes from a day of lectures or meetings. It is worth bearing in mind that the pages do not come ready hole punched. It would ruin the overall aesthetics if it did and this way you can keep it as a whole notebook if you wish, but it might be a deal breaker for some. The whole notebook is held closed with an elastic strap in a brown that compliments the autumnal acorn design. When the notebook is closed the outer edges of the pages are a bright orange, which I really like.

Inside the front and back covers the paper is squared. These are separated from the main lined pages by a tracing-paper type page featuring a large Orla Kiely logo. I assume this has just been included for design purposes and it does make the notebook feel a bit more high-end than your average A4 notepad.

Overall, it’s the nicest A4 pad I’ve bought in a while and it represents autumn nicely with its colours and acorn pattern. I shall be using it for blog and freelance planning this winter.

Orla Kiely makes everything from clothes to bags to body lotion to garden trowels. Check out the website here.

Now I have found another reason to love them. The Moleskine Evernote combines my two favourite things – stationery and tech! This notebook allows you to take notes the traditional, low-tech way – pen to paper – and then, through the power of Evernote, translates it into something super technical.

Evernote is a searchable, electronic storage system, which allows you to share your drawings, images, text and much more across a whole range of electronic devices. What makes it extra-special is the ability to search text in the pictures – think about it… wine bottle labels, hotel names, contracts, business cards, the possibilities are endless. You can completely tailor it to your own needs.

The Evernote Moleskine is designed to be an extension of this. Its pages have been redesigned to have “improved image capture”, making it easier to transfer your drawings, writing or ideas directly to Evernote, and then store, search and share depending on what you want to do with them. It comes complete with ‘smart stickers’ to categorise your notes even further.